Babe
by B.D. Adams
Summary: The summer that changed everything. It all seemed so much easier when they thought they'd end up the same place. Crack.
1. Introduction: Babes

A/N: This is an M-Rated fic. You've been warned.

—

Konoha Prep was a large school, over 3,000 students years six through twelve, and was one of the most prestigious schools in the country. Graduating with even a moderate final average could get students into top universities around the world. Parents sent their children across cities, even overseas, in order for them to attend Konoha Prep.

In such a competitive school, it took a lot to stand out from the rest. Competition was encouraged, and everyone wanted to leave their mark at the school. Some wanted to break athletic records, others wanted to achieve academically to raise the bar even higher than ever before. There were troublemakers, over-achievers, scholarship students, students of all kind.

At Konoha Prep, a group of six left their legacy living what they considered the best years of their lives.

—

The familiar smell of Itachi's sheets overwhelmed her senses. The expensive duvet enveloped her in the chilly room making waking up seem impossible. Hinata reached over to the bedside table for her phone and saw that she had woken up 14 minutes before her alarm — it's the little wins in life that really make life sweet. Nothing could disturb her in the next 14 minutes; not the sun beaming through the window, not the unreasonably low temperature that Itachi liked to keep his room at, not the angry stomping she could faintly hear, not even the weight of Sasuke's body crushing her as he groggily walked into his brother's room and unceremoniously dropped himself on top of her.

"Wake up." He mumbled into her hair, his body draped over hers which was comfortably cocooned in deep red Egyptian cotton. "You need to shower."

"14 minutes..." Sasuke just laid on top of her waiting for her to move knowing very well that her alarm would go off any second. Unfortunately for Hinata, her 14 minutes had passed a lot quicker than she had expected. The blaring sound of the default alarm tone was like an attack on her senses catching her off guard.

Sasuke pushed himself off of Hinata and retreated to his own room to get ready for the day. Hopefully Itachi would be back already with breakfast, and the girl he had just kicked out gone. He had expected the whole ordeal to go a lot smoother than it had. He specifically went for older women expecting that they'd understand that he wouldn't want them around the next morning.

Sasuke didn't consider himself promiscuous, but he was a human with needs. There was no way he would sleep with any of the girls in his school, so occasionally going to a bar to find a casual hook up didn't seem so bad.

—

"Foolish little brother, always leaving me to deal with the messes you create." Sasuke frowned looking at the woman from the night before. She was supposed to be gone.

"He was just so cruel!" The woman sobbed, dramatically throwing herself onto the kitchen island.

"You'll have to forgive my foolish little brother. Teenagers can be difficult to deal with, especially at this age." Itachi explained, patting the woman on the head. Sasuke rolled his eyes. Itachi always spoke as if he was in his thirties when they really only had a five year gap.

"T-teenager?" The woman gaped at Itachi, finally really noticing Sasuke's uniform clad body.

"Fake ID's a bitch." Sasuke shrugged.

"Itachi, did you bring breakfast home?" Hinata asked, walking into the kitchen. She continued to try to towel dry her hair, not paying any attention to the happenings in the kitchen.

"Brought you your favourite, but no coffee yet." Itachi suppressed a chuckle at Hinata's lack of awareness due to the towel covering her face. Hinata draped her towel over her shoulders and let her damp hair rest on it so that she didn't get her uniform too wet.

"I'll make coffee then! We were just delivered a new shipment of pods yesterday but you weren't home." She dug through the fridge for her almond milk cold brew, and the box of half and half for Itachi's coffee. "Sasuke do you want...coffee..?"

Hinata and the woman stared at each other. "Umm...would you like coffee too?"

The woman just stood up realizing she was in a house that required parental supervision but had none of it. She looked at Hinata who, without her uniform, could pass for someone in her early twenties based solely on her body. She began to question how old Itachi even was.

Taking one last long hard stare at Sasuke, she walked away deciding she did not regret her night with him but this was definitely not going to be a story she'd share with her girlfriends. How many other women had had these same thoughts, she wondered.

"Okay, no coffee." Hinata popped in a coffee pod for Sasuke, and added two scoops of sugar into Itachi's mug.

Itachi silently ate his bagel and watched the way his brother interacted with Hinata, the way they just naturally functioned together. Hinata continued to make coffee, adding ice to a glass for her cold brew while Sasuke picked up her task of towel drying her hair.

"You're due for a trim." Sasuke mumbled, feeling the ends of her hair between the tips of his fingers.

"I was thinking of cutting my hair short again." Sasuke scowled thinking of the atrocious haircut she had when they were kids after a nasty prank some of their classmates had pulled on her. "Don't worry, I'm not thinking of getting it cut that short." She said, reading his mind.

"Hn." Sasuke took the towel and brought it back to the bathroom while Hinata brought their coffees to the island and sat next to Itachi on one of the stools. Hinata dove into her smoothie bowl, it was the closest thing she had to a cinnamon roll that she liked since going vegan.

It had been two years since she had become vegan. She didn't do it for any real purpose at first, sure she loved animals but she didn't really do it for that. It had started with a stupid challenge that had been sparked between Naruto and Sasuke, but eventually their whole friend group got roped into it. Each person drew a sheet of paper out of a hat, and they'd have to give that item up for a month. Hinata had drawn meat which she was fine with not having. Ironically, it was Naruto and Sasuke who had failed in the end; Naruto drew 'energy drinks' which everyone was sure was entered for Lee, and Sasuke drew 'driving' which was obviously put in there for him. Naruto lost by accident, and Sasuke just didn't care enough about the challenge, and although he wouldn't admit it, he didn't have the willpower to give up riding his motorcycle.

"Enjoying your bowl of sludge?" Sasuke sat on the other side of Itachi and reached over to dip a finger into Hinata's smoothie bowl. It was a thick consistency and looked like awful brown slop. He tasted the amount on his finger and scowled. "Your disgustingly sweet bowl of sludge. That can't possibly be healthy for you."

"You know you hate it, and yet you try it every time." Hinata continued eating her bowl finishing it relatively quickly and left to Itachi's room, coffee in hand, where she had set up to get ready for the morning.

Sasuke silently drank his coffee trying to ignore his brother's stare. He knew Itachi was staring at him very obviously to get his attention, but he refused to give his brother the satisfaction of acknowledging it.

"So do you intentionally pick your women to look nothing like Hinata?" Sasuke was no longer shocked by his brother's morning comments. There had been a time when there was routine hissing because he'd burn himself on his coffee every time Itachi would bring up Hinata knowing she was close by. "I find you two are getting more and more ridiculous as you get older."

"Do you pester Hinata as you pester me?" Sasuke inquired, still not even sparing a glance at Itachi.

"Mother does that enough I'm sure." Itachi sipped his coffee and noted that Hinata had once again picked a pod that he had never tried but that he enjoyed.

There was always a debate amongst the school's population about whether the Uchiha brothers cared for Hinata Hyuga as a sister or romantically. Neither brother acknowledged the whispers or the rumours — there was one year that a rumour went around that Hinata lived with them because she was their shared bride, sold to the Uchiha so that Hiashi could focus on his two prodigal children. Itachi knew his foolish little brother didn't want to admit it, but it was obvious to their entire family that there was no one more precious to Sasuke than Hinata.

While Itachi would never say anything, he too had to admit that he noticed the way she blossomed beautifully over the years, and that perhaps if it were a different world and situation, he may have pursued her — perhaps if the rumours about his brother and the Uzumaki boy were true.

Hinata, Naruto, and Sasuke had known each other since birth. Their mothers were best friends, and although Mikoto Uchiha was the only living one left of the trio of mothers, Hinata and Naruto never felt deprived of a mother figure thanks to her. Hinata ended up spending more and more time at the Uchiha family house as the years grew on. Hinata's lack of motivation to work for the family company made her uninteresting in the eyes of her father. So much so that he did not fight Mikoto when she suggested that Hinata stay with her family while Hinata's siblings went to boarding school. The moment Hinata expressed her desire to step away from the family company, was the moment Hiashi removed her from his list of priorities. Hinata did not hate or resent her father, nor did she have any negative feelings towards her two siblings, Neji and Hanabi, who held all of his attention. She was simply thankful that she had a home with the Uchiha family.

"Ready to go?" Hinata asked. Sasuke cocked a brow looking at his watch. "I'm meeting Ino at hers first."

Hinata's face looked fresh with her usual no-makeup makeup look. Itachi always thought she was radiant. Sasuke, an artist himself, always appreciated the way she brought out the best in her features rather than trying to alter her appearance. Sasuke unhooked his keys from the front door and walked over to the entrance to the garage. Hinata hugged Itachi from his seat before going to meet Sasuke in the garage.

Sasuke pulled two helmets out of the seat of his bike, and tossed one to Hinata who just barely caught it. "Any reason why you're going to Yamanaka's so early?" Sasuke asked.

Hinata shrugged. "She sent me a message and said it was an emergency."

"You don't seem too concerned." He noted, adjusting the mirrors on his bike and pressing the button to open the garage door.

"Her emoji use tells me that it's not life threatening." Hinata hopped onto the back of Sasuke's bike and buckled in her helmet. Although it probably wasn't anything important, Sasuke knew something was up. He could read Hinata and Hinata knew that he could. He just respected her privacy enough that he wouldn't press any further — he would ask the dobe later.

Hinata wrapped her arms around Sasuke's waist and held on tight. No matter how many times she got onto his bike, she'd never truly get used to being on it. It always felt so much faster than it was actually going. Sasuke's abdomen was rigid and firm albeit slim. His frame was narrow making him look even taller than he already was. It wasn't that Hinata didn't find Sasuke attractive, it was quite the contrary. Sasuke was undeniably handsome. He was the school bad boy — a title he had inevitably inherited given Itachi's lasting reputation at Konoha Prep.

Mikoto always teased her that some day they'd end up together and give her beautiful little grandchildren. She would reminisce about the jokes that she, Kushina, and Hinata's mother Naoko would make during their pregnancies about whose son would end up with Naoko's daughter. Hinata would always note how sad she got telling these stories as Kushina had died during childbirth, and Hinata's own mother a few years later also during childbirth when Hanabi was born. Perhaps it was survivor's guilt, but Hinata could always tell that Mikoto treasured her and Naruto like she did her own children. In order to fill the void of losing her two best friends, Mikoto decided to join her husband Fugaku on his business travels once Itachi became old enough to run the house on his own.

Hinata and Sasuke were inseparable. Their love for each other ran deep, and existed on multiple levels. But ultimately, it was a mutual decision to not pursue any romantic relationship. From Hinata's perspective, they just didn't want the same things for the future. To Sasuke, he just wouldn't be good enough for her, he couldn't give her everything she might want, and he just couldn't stand thinking about how she might always fret over him. To their friends, their dynamic was confusing given they had no idea they had had a chat about what might come of them if they had gotten together.

Sasuke pulled into Ino's driveway and got off after Hinata. He took her helmet and put it back into the seat. "Let me know if you need a ride from Yamanaka's to school."

"I will." Hinata hugged Sasuke and jogged over to Ino's porch. "Later babe!"

Sasuke smiled behind the tinted mask of his helmet. He lifted the screen of his helmet and called out, "Later babe."

—

Sakura stared at her best friend. Ino was pacing around the room in her underwear, perfect breasts out and about. When was Hinata going to get here and calm this girl down?

"Babe, chill out." Ino stopped in her tracks and spun around to glare at Sakura. Sakura noticed the way her perky breasts bounced with every movement she made. It always seemed so unreal that they were real. Sure Hinata's were bigger but the two were in agreement, Ino's boobs were the best amongst the three of them.

"Forehead, how could you expect me to be calm right now?" Ino sulked. "If I'm caught walking in or out of an abortion clinic, I'll be ruined!"

"And since when have you been worried about what anyone has ever said about you?" Sakura didn't have the heart or the energy to tell Ino that she had one of these pregnancy scares every few months, and every time she would cry about how it would be the last time she'd ever sleep with Naruto again. Then when the test came back negative, she'd celebrate by telling Naruto they weren't hooking up anymore in the middle of hooking up with him. Pregnancy scares were scary, but it was getting tiring. Hinata always had a pregnancy test handy in case something like this would happen, which it inevitably did.

"Babe, I know you think I'm just overreacting but I have a feeling about this one." Ino stood in front of her full body mirror and held a hand over her flat stomach.

Sakura never really spoke about her insecurities with Ino. That was more of a thing she'd talk about with Hinata. Ino was by far the prettiest girl in school, and although Sakura knew that Hinata didn't see it herself, Hinata came a close second — they were different kinds of pretty which Sakura could never measure up to. Ino was like a model, and Hinata ethereal. Sakura tried not to think too much about superficial things like looks, and Ino was never shy to express how beautiful she thought Sakura was, but she just felt like she paled in comparison to her friends.

Having Ino Yamanaka compliment you was perhaps one of the biggest confidence boosters. Being complimented by anyone you considered more attractive than yourself was a confidence booster. Ino would marvel about her green eyes, about how her lips were the perfect shape with the perfect amount of pout, about how jealous she was of her body — Ino Yamanaka, _jealous_. Ino was never one to give empty compliments, and knowing that meant that much more to Sakura.

Sakura was an outcast before meeting Ino. Ino had always been the prettiest most popular girl in school, and for whatever reason, she decided that she really wanted to be friends with Sakura. Although she rejected the idea at first, even so far as antagonizing Ino on occasion, Sakura truly admired Ino. Although she felt like a fourth wheel at first since Ino, Shikamaru, and Chouji were childhood friends, eventually she had accepted that these three had welcomed her from the beginning as one of them.

It wasn't until year five that they met Naruto, Sasuke, and Hinata. Their schools had merged, and Ino and Sakura were immediately drawn to Sasuke Uchiha. This caused a minor rift in their friendship but it was Hinata who brought them into their group, inadvertently. That fateful day when some jealous classmates decided it would be funny to corner Hinata and cut off one of her braids. Although it was Naruto and Sasuke who beat up the boys, it was Sakura and Ino who comforted Hinata and got revenge on the girls. Shikamaru, well, he was Shikamaru. By the time they were old enough to transfer to Konoha Prep, Chouji did not go with them as he could not afford to attend. Eventually, he had moved away altogether.

It was strange to think she was surrounded by so much wealth. Her birth parents had given her up when she was born in order to give her a life better than they could afford. Despite the hand that she was dealt, Sakura grew up to become many great things; pretty, athletic, intelligent, assertive, and ambitious. But more than anything, she was loyal. Aside from the dean of the school, Tsunade, who adopted her when she was born, her friends were her family.

 _DingDong DingDong_

"Thank god." Sakura hurried over to the door and let Hinata in who was already rummaging through her backpack for the plastic stick Ino was about to pee on.

Hinata handed her the pregnancy test, and a pair of rolled socks. Sakura had completely forgotten that she had needed the extra socks since Ino had thrown up on hers when she arrived. Ino thought it was morning sickness, and Sakura said it was food poisoning.

"Thank you so much Babe!" Ino held Hinata in a tight hug. "I'll be out in a flash!"

"She's been _flashing_ me all morning." Sakura sighed. Chewing her lip, Sakura turned to Hinata and asked, "Do you ever feel weird about the whole Ino Naruto thing?"

Hinata shook her head no. "I remember the first time they had ever hooked up, Ino ran to Sasuke's crying and it took a full hour for me to get it out of her. You know Ino, she likes to start from the beginning with everything. It wasn't until 45 minutes into her story that I realized what she was leading to. I honestly don't care. Me and Naruto didn't work out but we're still friends. I love him, always will, but not like that."

Sakura had always avoided the dating within the friend group thing. For better or for worse, they would be friends, but she just couldn't jeopardize that. She knew herself. Even when she was crazy for Sasuke, she was smart enough to know she shouldn't pursue it — half because she realized she liked him for his looks and half because it was quite evident that no one would ever come between him and Hinata. At this point, there was just too much at stake.

When Hinata and Naruto dated when they were all fourteen, she had never seen Sasuke so moody and cold. Everyone else said it was an angsty period for him because his parents were leaving him and his brother to live alone, but Ino, Sakura, and even Shikamaru knew better. They dated for exactly six months to the date, had sex, and broke up promptly after the ordeal. It was awkward. Not in the sweet way where you lose your virginity to the love of your life and neither knows what to do kind of awkward. It was the kind of awkward where they were both going through with it because they were already there in the middle of it. Naruto had profusely apologized afterwards, strongly emphasizing that he definitely thought that Hinata had the most bangin' bod that any fourteen year old could ever dream of. Sakura frankly couldn't believe anyone would be stupid enough to even utter those words, Ino was not surprised by Naruto's outburst because well...Naruto. Somehow, despite the awkwardness of the entire ordeal, they weren't awkward the next day.

The end of Naruto and Hinata's awkward early teen romance was the birth of their crew's namesake — Babe. It was a joke at first because Naruto would only ever address Hinata as babe whether she was present or not. And after, to relieve what might have become awkward, Sasuke of all people said 'hey _babe_ ' to Naruto who, as usual, was the latest to meet up with them at their morning meeting spot. From then on, they were all _Babe_. It caught on and someone had decided that they were indeed all Babes — their officially unofficial crew name.

"Just gotta wait a few minutes." Ino said, staring at the plastic device she had just urinated on.

"Ino, put that thing down and wash your hands." Sakura cringed. "Also, go get dressed so we can get breakfast before school starts. I don't want to deal with Shika's stupid girlfriend so hopefully we can fill up the bench before she gets there."

Ino popped her head out from her ensuite and frowned. None of them liked Kin, she was frankly a huge nuisance who was definitely only using Shikamaru so that she could pretend like she was part of their friend group even though everyone in the school would basically tell her otherwise. It isn't as if Shikamaru didn't know, he knew very well. He just couldn't be bothered to do anything about it because Kin's mom was best friends with Shikamaru's 'troublesome mother'. Every morning when they would meet up at their usual spot, a bench under a tree at the entrance of the school that they had all claimed when they entered Konoha Prep, one person would always have to stand because Kin would take up one of the seats to say she was there.

"Yeah, I wish he'd just break up with her already." Ino rolled her eyes and looked down at the pregnancy test. "I'M NOT PREGNANT!" She cheered.

—

Sasuke all but kicked down Naruto's bedroom door after Minato let him into their lavish condo. Naruto and his father lived in one of the many residential buildings in the city. Unfortunately, Naruto was often late because he could never get up early enough to get to school on time since he lived fairly far from Konoha Prep.

Sasuke tore the sheet from under Naruto's spread eagle body dragging him to the floor with it. "Get up dobe."

"Teme..." Naruto gurgled irritatedly.

Minato observed amusedly from the doorway. He had been watching the interesting relationship between his son and Sasuke Uchiha develop for their entire lives, best friends to the end whether they admitted it or not. Mikoto made sure that they remained in each other's lives, and for that, Minato felt forever indebted to her for giving his son someone to give him the warmth of a mother and the companionship of a brother. He did his part as a father, but he worked long hours in order to send Naruto to Konoha Prep — Naruto was on an athletic scholarship but it didn't cover the entire tuition. Naruto was more than understanding but Minato couldn't help but feel that it was thanks to the Uchiha family that Naruto could fill a large place that would have been filled by Kushina had she still been alive.

Minato however served as a father figure to Sasuke. Sasuke had great respect for the man not only as a man with great responsibility but because he chose to be present in Naruto's life in every way he possibly could. As much as he tried to talk to Itachi, Sasuke always found himself somehow chatting with Minato about whatever inner dilemma he couldn't resolve himself. Oddly enough, it was Minato who had been giving him clear guidance during the confusing period when Hinata and Naruto had been dating.

"Teme, it's so fucking early. What do you want?" Naruto groaned on the ground.

"Why did Yamanaka ask Hinata to go to hers so early?"

"Why the fuck do you care?" Naruto grumbled, getting up and trudging over to the bathroom.

"Hinata didn't seem concerned so I assume it has something to do with Yamanaka overreacting about something which usually has to do with you." Minato decided this was a good time to leave. Naruto shoved his toothbrush into his mouth and looked over to see his dad retreating to the kitchen.

Quickly brushing his teeth, Naruto gestured for Sasuke to go to his room.

"So every few months, Ino has some sort of pregnancy scare which turns out to be a false alarm." Naruto explained. "But it still freaks me out y'know? I'm not ready to be a dad or whatever. But also, I know we're going to have crazy 'I'm never hooking up with you again' sex somewhere in the school later because that's just what happens."

"Too much information, but what does that have to do with Hinata." Naruto rolled his eyes.

"Teme, you're not her keeper, why are you so concerned about every aspect of her life? They're best friends, Sakura is probably there too dealing with Ino." Now that he had mentioned it, Sakura's car was parked out in the driveway. "You should just stop being such a little bitch and ask her out already. You already live together, what are you waiting for?"

"Shut up dobe."

Naruto didn't get it. Literally everyone already knew that they were inseparable, what difference would it make if they made it a relationship? He had dated Hinata, and she was great! They'd be friends forever, but...just friends. Losing his virginity to her had been the strangest thing of his life. He was excited, his body reflected this as well, she was smokin' hot, but it just felt wrong. It was like seeing her body got him excited but knowing the person who it belonged to made it weird...like he was about to go at it with a sister, or cousin.

For as long as he could remember, Itachi and Sasuke had threatened every guy who even looked at her for a millisecond too long. Hinata had expressed to him at one point that she was beginning to think she was just unbelievably unattractive and that was why she was the least pursued girl of their friends. He and the Teme got into arguments all the time about how they couldn't just ward guys away from her if they weren't going to pursue her themselves. Sasuke would do the Sasuke thing and say it was because no one was good enough for her. Hurtful. The only other guy to Naruto's knowledge that had ever attempted pursuing Hinata and succeeded was Kiba Inuzuka who followed her like a puppy the first day they had all entered Konoha Prep. At some point in Junior year at a party, Hinata and Kiba drunkenly hooked up ever so classily in the master bathroom of whosever house they were in.

The strangest thing about that whole thing was that it wasn't Sasuke, nor was it Naruto who had punched Kiba Inuzuka in the face the next morning. It was Shikamaru. He just went into the bathroom during a hunt for Hinata, found the two of them, woke up Kiba just to knock him out again. Despite the threat of everyone else in the crew, nothing deterred Kiba from quietly pursuing Hinata.

"Let's go before Nara's stupid girlfriend decides to join us."

—

Shikamaru didn't like surprises. He especially didn't like surprises that came with his obnoxious troublesome girlfriend. One of her favourite surprises since they had started dating had been to show up at his house in the morning to go to school together.

It didn't help that his friends weren't too fond of her and it didn't help that Kin didn't seem to care that they were outright unwelcoming of her presence. Hell, he didn't like her all that much either but he didn't want to think about the wrath that would inevitably emerge from his troublesome mother if he hurt Kin's feelings. Shikamaru has never pretended to be the nice guy type, his indifference typically translated to him being an asshole so he was sure he never gave off the nice guy vibe. Dating Kin was a nice gesture for his mother. She asked him to try. How was he to know that Kin would latch onto him like she had? It would be unfair to say that Kin provided nothing to their relationship. Kin, albeit crazy and obviously interested in him for some strange obsession with the high school hierarchical system, was fairly attractive and went above and beyond in bed.

Kin jumped into bed with Shikamaru and straddled his hips. Shikamaru opened one eye to peek up at his girlfriend and sighed, it was really early. What a drag.

Kin wasn't stupid. She knew that the Babes didn't like her. It was hard not to notice. She actually did like Shikamaru though. They'd known each other since they were young, and although she only got to see him when her mom would go see his, she had become enamoured with him. She remembered the embarrassment she felt when her mom told Mrs. Nara about her crush on the young Nara, but it all turned out to work in her favour. Zaku and Dosu didn't understand why she bothered with the Babes — Zaku was still bitter about the time Sasuke Uchiha had broken both of his arms for making mean comments about Sakura's forehead.

Whether people admitted it or not, they worshipped the ground the Babes walked on. They were the most well-rounded students in the school, the most perfect combination of beauty, brains, and brawn. The front runners for all the best universities. They were in-school celebrities, merely being associated with them brought so much power. She automatically got invited to anything they were invited to, and she got to do it all with her childhood crush. Shikamaru would come to like her more over time.

"Wakey wakey sleepyhead!" Kin grinned down at Shikamaru.

"Kin, it's way too early to head to school right now."

"Duh I know that. I wanted to go get breakfast." Shikamaru groaned at the suggestion which would force him to get out of bed. "Come on! There's a super cute breakfast spot I saw on Insta that I wanna try."

—

Konoha Prep had a campus more beautiful than Konoha University which was located in the heart of the city. It was castle-like, surrounded by nature. Hinata liked to spend first period laying out on the field drawing or just watching the sky. She had first period off, and sometimes Shikamaru would skip first to join her out on the field.

"Where the heck are Naruto and Sasuke?" Sakura wondered. The school parking lot was located a five minute walk away so not to disrupt the scenery of the school campus. Sakura had already thought they took a slow stroll over to the bench. Knowing the two of them, if they could get away with it, they were racing on their bikes. Sakura took a bite out of her 7-Eleven onigiri, and looked out towards the direction of the parking lot.

"Oh, I think I see them." Sakura squinted and groaned.

"Nope. Just Shika...and Kin."

"Look again, Forehead." Behind the couple was Naruto and Sasuke making their way over.

Sakura frowned. Not so much because of Kin as much as she was realizing that high school was coming to a close. The routines they had developed over the years would have to change, and the bond they had would be put to the test by distance. They would all be going to university, and she still hadn't made a decision about which school to go to. Sakura had gotten into all ten schools she applied to on scholarship, her options were vast. She knew they weren't going to be in the same place forever, but she couldn't help but wonder what was going to happen to them in the following year.


	2. Let's Talk

Unfortunately for Naruto, he didn't have the luxury of sharing the same lunch period as his friends. It was a blazing hot afternoon, and he was stuck running laps outside on the track while his friends were surely planning their prom and after prom. Sasuke had already filled him in on what might be happening since the teme and Hinata had already locked down some Akatsuki connections. He would much rather be listening to Ino and Sakura scream over going to Red Nightclub than doing whatever other uninteresting warmups his PE teacher had in store for the class.

"Hey Naruto." The sweaty blonde turned to see his ex-girlfriend. He looked around, not so much because he wasn't sure about whether she was addressing him as much as it was because he was making sure Ino wasn't around.

"Hey Amaru, what's up?" Amaru nervously tucked some of her thick auburn hair behind her ear and took a deep breath.

"I hope it's not weird or anything, but I was wondering if you'd want to go to prom with me." Naruto's eyes widened. She said it all so fast, and yet he heard her loud and clear. "You don't have to answer me immediately. I know you and Ino have like a weird thing or whatever. I'd just really like to go together."

Naruto just stared at her. He technically wasn't going to prom with Ino, not that he knew of anyways, and he and Amaru had had a good thing going on for a while. He didn't want her to take his silence for a no, but he really didn't know what to do.

"Look, I know we didn't exactly leave things on a good note. I know I wasn't exactly the best girlfriend, but I'm not saying we have to give it another go right away. Just one date, it doesn't even have to be prom."

"Naruto Uzumaki, please report to the office." Naruto remained staring at Amaru.

"Can we just talk about this on the way to the office?" Naruto just nodded unsure of what there was to talk about. He needed time.

The two of them walked slowly to the office in silence. Naruto decided to break the silence. "Why now, Amaru? What's the point of starting so close to graduation when we're all going to be leaving Konoha Prep? Don't people usually break up after prom or something?"

Amaru bit her lip. She looked around, no one was in the office, not even Shizune, the secretary. She took a seat and motioned for him to sit next to her.

"Look, I know I was wrong for what I did, and I wouldn't forgive me if I was you. But it wasn't easy for me either. I was in a weird place, and at the time I thought it was the best option for me. But I didn't think of you, and I admit that. I was selfish." Amaru wrung her fingers tightly. "Your friends never let me forget it either you know? I'm not trying to tell on anyone, but they're really mean. I don't know how you even fit in with them, you're such a kind person. I was too scared to approach you before because I hoped maybe it'd be easier to start new amidst an end."

"So you're just here to tell me my friends are bad people and that they were unreasonable for being upset with you for treating me like an idiot?" Naruto, like the rest of the Babes, got very defensive about his friends. "Even if we started dating again, it doesn't change the fact that they'll still be in my life. They're my best friends."

"Naruto, you don't have to deal with how terrifying those girls are in the change room. I get that everyone worships you guys or something but you have no idea what it's like. They look me up and down like I'm not worth their time, like I don't belong in their presence because I'm not fucking perfect like they are. Those girls have no idea what it's like to deal with the insecurities that they cause others."

"Amaru. Are you done?" She could tell he was irritated but that just seemed to push her more.

"No, no I'm not. I'm not Ino Yamanaka, Naruto. I'm not a blonde goddess, but I deserve to be treated like a human. I understand what I did was horrible, but she doesn't own you. You aren't her property, I'm allowed to miss you without getting pushed aside before I can say hello." She was halfway to tears at this point. "You guys aren't even dating, but I know what it's like to be with you Naruto. We were good together when we were together."

"I have no idea why you're telling me this now but it sounds like you still have a lot to sort out before I could ever even consider getting back together with you." Naruto was stern. "I'm sorry if you felt mistreated by the girls but you could probably imagine they were the ones putting me back together after you dumped me without looking back. So my answer is no, Amaru. No I will not go to prom with you. No, I will not go on any sort of date with you."

—

"You're fucking with me." Ino gaped at Sasuke and Hinata.

"Nope, Sasori has already given me the go ahead to use his villa in Suna." Sasuke leaned back in his seat, satisfied that there was a plan in place where they could all agree to.

"Yeah, and Hidan will bring us in through the front for Red." Hinata grinned. She was happy that her friends were happy. Getting Hidan to agree without telling Itachi was tough. "There is one more surprise though."

Sasuke quirked an eyebrow at Hinata. "Sasuke doesn't even know what it is? Spill!" Sakura practically jumped out of her seat.

"If you're interested in getting a custom dress, Konan says she'll do our dresses for prom at half the cost. She's the designer for Dawn." The Akatsuki were in many industries, most of which were illegal.

"What's this I hear about custom dresses by the head designer of Dawn?" Kin chimed in.

"She's the only designer for Dawn you dingus, and you didn't hear about it at all." Ino sneered.

"I didn't ask you, Yamanaka." Kin snipped back. "Hinata, you can get custom dresses from Dawn?"

Sakura frowned. She hated when Kin would ask Hinata knowing she was the most soft-spoken of their friends.

"Yeah, Konan is pretty busy though...so she said she could try to do three dresses last minute." Hinata chewed on her lip. She always was bad at rejecting people. "It's really just a one time thing."

"Oh well, Kin already bought a dress so don't feel bad, Hinata." Shikamaru said. He knew how awkward Kin made Hinata feel. He didn't appreciate the blatant abuse of her kindness. Ever since they had met, Shikamaru had a distinct feeling of protectiveness over Hinata believing everyone outside of their small circle to be abusers of her kindness. Like that damn Kiba Inuzuka.

"Babe, I'm just saying I didn't know she had that kind of hook up." Hinata shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She didn't like to just use her connection to the Akatsuki so freely. A connection she only had through Itachi which made it all the more awkward. Things didn't just come for free when dealing with the Akatsuki.

"Yeah _babe_ , didn't you know? Your girlfriend has to have every hook up she can get through us." Ino sneered. She knew that they didn't own the term, yet she couldn't help but seethe every time she heard Kin call Shikamaru babe. She picked up her backpack and walked away. She had other things to attend to.

Sakura sighed watching Ino strut away. Hopefully going to break Naruto out of PE would cheer her up. Finals were around the corner, and while everyone was excited for the celebrations to take place in the coming weeks, the pressure was on to make and maintain final GPAs. While Sakura felt more than ready, she hoped her friends weren't slacking off.

"Hey Zaku, over here!" Sakura cringed at Kin's invitation. Zaku Abumi held a strong grudge after Sasuke had gotten away with breaking both of his arms. Naruto wasn't a fan of him either due to his blatant and futile attempts at trying to sleep with Ino. Everyone had a problem with Kin and her associates and yet here they were intruding on their lunch period. "Hinata was just talking all about what's happening for prom and stuff. You in?"

"I don't remember inviting you Kin, so why are you inviting people to our plans?" Sasuke was visibly unsettled by Zaku's presence.

"What's wrong, Uchiha? Don't like having outsiders too close to your cult activities?" Zaku snorted.

"Kin, can you keep your dog at bay? No one of relevance asked him to join us." Sakura snapped. Zaku and Dosu had used her head for target practice thus leading to the breaking of Zaku's arms. She looked at Shikamaru who was just sitting there, completely unsure of what to do, fiddling with a cigarette he was itching to light.

"If anyone's a dog here, it's you, Haruno." Zaku laughed. "Jumping to Uchiha's defence like a loyal dog even though he has a bitch he clearly prefers over you. I don't blame him though, all you've got is that big ass forehead while Hyuga's got a fat pair o-"

"I dare you to finish that sentence, Abumi." Sasuke snarled. "Nara get your girlfriend and her bitch the fuck out of here before I break more than his arms."

"You aren't his leader, Sas-"

"I'll see you after school, Kin." Kin gaped at Shikamaru.

"That's so not fair!"

"Zaku, get out of here before I stop giving a shit that you're my girlfriend's weird friend." Kin frowned but grabbed Zaku by his arm.

"No, they don't own this place. Why do I have to leave just because Uchiha's a sensitive bitch about not being able to get into Hyuga's pants? We get it, every guy in this school has wanted to go balls deep into her. Just go for Yamanaka like everyone else since she's eas-" Shikamaru's fist connected with Zaku's jaw.

Sakura watched in silence, frozen in place as Shikamaru's fists collided with Zaku's face. Kin's screaming didn't seem to register in her mind completely. She needed to stop him, it was too close to the end of the year. Shikamaru would surely get expelled, it was too close to graduation for this. But all those horrible things Zaku had said held her back. She could vaguely hear Hinata asking desperately for Sasuke to stop him.

—

Ino snickered after sending out the announcement for Naruto. She had set this up perfectly so that she had access to the private offices within the main office during lunch. She waited patiently and resisted the urge to leap out from behind Shizune's desk when she heard footsteps approaching.

"Why now, Amaru?" Amaru? What the fuck was she doing here with Naruto?

Amaru had been Naruto's first serious girlfriend after Hinata. Naruto was enamoured with her to say the least. Who would have guessed that half way through their one year relationship, Amaru had started cheating on him with a guy everyone thought was Shino from their year. It wasn't until the one year mark that Amaru had broken up with Naruto, and it was Ino who found out about the cheating, and that it was with some middle aged doctor named Shinno.

Ino couldn't help but make comparisons between herself and the curvaceous red head. She would wonder whether he preferred fuller hips like Amaru's, or the way Amaru was blessed with an even tanned complexion. Amaru's body type definitely resembled Hinata's more than her own, and was he could only wonder if he preferred that body type to her own. It made her more bitter than she'd like to admit, but the girl was pretty. She had a boy-ish charm about her and a different kind of confidence with each stride she took down the halls.

It was Ino who put Naruto back together when he found out about Amaru, even if she was just a warm body at first.

"Ino, you can come out from behind there." Naruto said. Amaru had gone without a word, absorbing the rejection that she had been dealt.

"I wanted to surprise you, I didn't mean to eavesdrop…" Ino mumbled. Naruto pulled her into his chest and rested his cheek against her head. The comforting warmth that resonated from his body accompanied by the stickiness of his body from being out in the blazing heat reminded her of why they were there. She loosely wrapped her arms around him and slid her hands up the back of his shirt, savouring the way his back muscles were rigid and defined.

"Thank you, for always looking out for me." Ino smiled against his shoulder. His hands slid from her pert bottom to the edge of her uniform skort. "So we have this _entire_ office to ourselves? Just what were you planning, Yamanaka?" He whispered into her hear. His raspy voice always got to her, the way it conveyed warmth and masculinity, and the way it got deeper when he was ready to take here right there right then.

"Follow me, and I'll just show you, _Uzumaki_." She toyed with the elastic of his gym shorts, sliding her slender fingers along the band. "You have a condom, right?"

—

Awkward.

Naruto looked around the office, avoiding any eye contact with anyone present in the room. Four students in the room, and four sitting outside waiting for the verdict.

Tsunade had had to get called in from her meeting after a fight had ensued between Shikamaru Nara and Zaku Abumi. Imagine her surprise when she walked into the main office to find not Nara or Abumi, but Naruto Uzumaki's bare ass with Ino Yamanaka's legs on either side of him. She didn't want to come back to deal with a fight, and she especially didn't want to come back to deal with two teens bumping uglies on on her desk.

"How do you suppose we deal with this matter?" Tsunade asked the flustered teens. "Where do I even begin? Shikamaru, you are the last person I would expect to see here for a fight. Naruto, I should expel you and Ino for what I walked in on."

"But you won't right?" Zaku snapped. "They're going to get away with all the shit that they do because they're your kid's friends. So they get a pass for treating everyone else like shit and they also get away with anything else because of favouritism."

"It pays to be likeable." Ino said under her breath which didn't go unheard.

"Oh I'm sure you know what it's like to be well liked by the entire male student body, Yamanaka." Zaku sneered.

"What the fuck did you just say?" Naruto growled. "I'll fuck you up so bad you'll be wishing that it was Shikamaru beating the shit out of you."

"Enough!" Tsunade had had enough. It was always the same shit, for four years it was the same shit. Zaku Abumi wasn't wrong in saying that her daughter's friends got away with a lot, but it had nothing to do with Sakura's influence. "For now, none of you are allowed to attend prom any longer. If this persists, I'll be sure to make consequences more severe. You're all dismissed before I ban you from graduation."

"But Tsun-" Naruto grabbed Ino's arm and stopped her from continuing whatever it was that she was about to say. They left in silence and were met with the worried eyes of Sakura and Hinata. Sasuke was nowhere to be found, and Kin was on her phone.

"Where'd Sasuke go?" Shikamaru sighed. This was troublesome. The prom was troublesome, but knowing his friends were going to be upset over it was even more troublesome.

"He went to pee. What happened? Are you guys okay?" Sakura asked frantically.

"We aren't allowed to go to prom!" Ino began to cry.

"Does that mean there's an opening for getting a dress?" Ino glared at Kin who hadn't even looked up from her phone. "Since Ino won't be needing one now."

"Kin, if you want a dress from Dawn so bad, you can go and get one yourself." Sasuke walked in unfazed by the deep looks of concern. "The dobe, Nara and Yamanaka are going to prom."

"What're you gonna do about it, Uchiha?" Zaku spat. "As usual, none of you have any idea what it's like to suffer consequences for your actions."

"Let me make something clear to you. I didn't personally interfere while Nara smashed your face into the pile of shit it already is because I've got shit to arrange that doesn't have to do with your irrelevant ass. I could very well break both your arms right here right now and still get away with it. Don't forget you're garbage, Abumi."

Tsunade wasn't a woman who would budge, but as secretive as her life outside of school might have been even to her daughter, the Uchiha had enough resources to dig anything up. Was it crappy of him to blackmail and bribe his friend's mom? Yeah. But what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her.

—

"I don't know what magic Uchiha tricks Sasuke had to pull to get Tsunade to let us go to prom, but I'm going to savour it and not fuck up. I'm not having sex until prom is over." Sakura and Hinata looked at Ino blankly. "I'm not having sex _on school grounds_ until prom is over."

"That sounds about right." Sakura shook her head. "So Hina, are you coming with us or is Sasuke driving you to Dawn?"

"I'm going to wait for Sasuke, I already gave Konan artistic freedom with my dress along with my measurements. I'll let her know that you guys are on your way over. Sasuke and I have to go talk to Hidan first to make some arrangements for a booth." Hinata explained.

"You guys are fucking incredible!" Ino was so excited she had already forgotten that her best friend's mom had just walked in on her having sex. "We'll head out first then, see you later babe!"

Hinata watched as her friends drove off. She hated lying to her friends, but when it came to the topic of Sasuke and Hinata, she and Sasuke liked to keep it to themselves. They had these talks as often as Ino had pregnancy scares.

"Hey." Hinata looked towards Sasuke's voice. They walked in silence into a section of forest that surrounded Konoha Prep. Their fingers would brush by accident and on purpose as they thought of what was to come following the conversation.

"Sasuke, why do we keep putting ourselves through this conversation?" Hinata sighed. "We either want to make this work or we don't. We can't just keep going back and forth on this."

"I know." Sasuke searched his mind for words but something about Hinata had always gotten him at a loss for words. He had planned this the entire day, what he'd say, and any follow up to whatever answer she might give him. But all of that went out the door when she spoke.

Sasuke was never a talkative person, but his actions spoke volumes to Hinata. He stood in front of her, eyes fixed on her face looking everywhere but in her eyes. The tips of his fingers brushed her bangs out of her eyes even though they fell right back into place. And that's what they both hoped every time they had this talk, a talk that might change everything. But unlike Hinata's bangs things might not fall back into place as they should.

"I'm not going to college." Was how he started. Hinata knew this already. "I hate kids, I'll probably end up in the Akatsuki like Itachi, and I probably won't be doing anything great with my life. Maybe I'll open up shop in Akatsuki territory, they don't have a barber shop yet."

His fingers gently traced the underside of her brows, he liked to memorize the details of her face.

"As much as I hate to admit it, the dobe is right. I can't just keep standing by and acting like a bitch every time you go on a date or if a guy so much as looks at you for a second longer than I think he should." His fingers had reached outwards into the baby hairs on her temples, and tucked the stray pieces around her face behind her ears. He loved how symmetrical she was, how balanced her features were.

She had a similar fascination with the way she and Sasuke showed so much symmetry in their features and personalities and yet they seemed to balance each other out with their differences.

"Sasuke." Her voice was barely above a whisper. He looked at her so intensely as he spoke, she needed to take a step back. These conversations were never easy. They only served as reminders that neither of them had the courage to be with the other. That maybe they'd resent the other because their dreams for the future didn't match up.

That maybe over time the other might not love them once they experienced the faults that they had as lovers.

Hinata couldn't come up with more to say. She wanted to tell him that they had had this talk many times before, that as much as she wanted to be with him, she didn't want to risk having him hate her because she was insecure and incapable of expressing her feelings. Between the two of them, Sasuke of all people was the more expressive one.

"I'm not ambitious, I'm not Itachi." And as it always would, the conversation quickly became about Sasuke's concern that he wasn't as perfect as his older brother. Something that had been ingrained deep into his mind by his father from a young age. Something that might have driven him insane had it not been for Hinata.

Sasuke didn't have to say much more. He pressed his forehead to hers. She could hear his heartbeat, she knew what he was trying to say. She struggled with her own words.

"I've never needed you to be Itachi." For years, she helped him work through his resentment for his brother – resentment brewed from the words of a father she knew all too well. One that reflected her own.

Hinata took a deep breath.

"Sasuke. I'm leaving Konoha." He took a step away from her.

—

"…and preferably something cool-toned." Hinata stepped into Dawn just as Ino finished her consultation with Konan.

"Hey Hinata." Konan greeted, glancing up from her note sheet.

"Hi Konan, what nights do you DJ at Red?" Hinata asked.

"If you're wondering if I'll be there when Hidan breaks you into Red without Itachi's knowing then yes, I'll be there."

"Oh my god, do you think we have to bring Kin with us to Red?" Ino groaned.

"More likely than not." Sakura sighed.

"Can't we just like, ditch her or something mid-way through prom?" Kin had never personally done anything to Ino prior to Kin dating Shikamaru, but Ino didn't like who she was associated with. That was probably what bred the hostility everyone had towards her. That and the fact that Kin just seemed to use Shikamaru for the connections that came with his name.

"I can't help but think she might not be that bad if she wasn't so close with Zaku and Dosu." Ino rolled her eyes at Sakura's statement. "What? They hang out with Oto High kids. I feel like Kin would be more bearable if she weren't associated with that."

"A crew of rich kids who hang out with kids from the projects to seem tough or to rebel for nothing." Ino did not like Oto Public High School. She had nothing against public schooling but Oto was a breeding ground for degenerates.

"I have an idea of what you girls want. I'll let Hinata know when you guys can come in for a fitting." Konan got up and gave a quick wave. "You guys can let yourselves out."

"Thanks Konan, it was nice to meet you!" Sakura said. When she left to her office, Sakura turned to Hinata. "Is everything okay?"

Hinata looked at Sakura and shrugged. It remained silent for a little.

"Do you guys know where you're going after graduation?" Sakura and Ino looked at Hinata. Sakura in particular had been wondering where everyone would be going.

"I'm staying in Konoha. Konoha U has the best medical program there is." Sakura replied.

"I'm staying in Konoha too. I can honestly do psychology anywhere, but Konoha University is such an amazing school. It'll be nice to be in the city rather than in the suburbs." Ino hesitated for a second before asking, "Where do you plan on going, Hina?"

"Well, I got accepted into Konoha, but I also got accepted into Kumo and Kiri." Sakura and Ino could already tell where this was going.

"Have you told Sasuke..?" Hinata smiled sadly at Sakura and nodded. "Are you guys...okay?"

"His life is in Konoha, and that's okay."

"Kumo's really far, Hina. Kiri's even further." Ino knew Sasuke and Hinata well enough by now to know that Sasuke was just going to give up, and that Hinata probably let him give up. "Well, it's not like you're going away forever. You'll be back every summer, and we'll have holidays too!"

But summers and holidays weren't enough to build a steady relationship. Maybe if Sasuke and Hinata had started sooner there'd be a chance of them working out. Neither was so idealistic to think that they'd be the kinds of people to make long distance work. Part of Hinata knew that there was a part of Sasuke which resented her for leaving him like his parents had, it had always felt as if all he had in this world was Itachi, and Hinata leaving would further drive this.

"Yeah."

—

A note from Babs:

Nice to meet all of you, I'm Babette but I go by anything but that. Long time reader, first time writer on this site. I'm thinking this will be a trilogy since I have ideas that go beyond where I want to end this chapter of the characters' lives. Consider _Babe_ as the first book, probably going to be somewhere in the tens in terms of chapter count, may drift into the twenties but that's undecided as of right now. I wouldn't say this is necessarily a coming of age story but I'm trying to give it that coming of age story vibe. I want you all to see that they have a relationship with each other and a history, but that this will also be put to the test because they have to make such big decisions for their futures.

These characters aren't meant to be perfect, each character has their flaws which we are slowly introduced to. Any mentions of random characters is relevant, I don't believe in filling chapters with content that isn't necessary. While they may not be major characters, some may be catalysts for events that occur through the story.

In terms of pairings, it will 100% be SasuHina, NaruIno, ShikaTema, and Saku? I'm leaving Sakura's man a mystery but you'll know who he is when he appears. I apologize if it takes a while for me to update, I have a tendency to write large portions of a chapter and then delete later. I do have a job so I try and make time to write whenever I can.

I want to leave a quick reminder that this is an M Rated story. There will be content of all sorts, some of which might be disturbing to readers. I don't want to leave warnings in the middle of stories as I've seen other writers do as I don't want to create a disruption in the middle of my chapter. With that said, there will be minor mentions of substance abuse, sex is an evident theme of this story but probably not a lot of explicit scenes, if there are any necessary warnings I feel I need to give, I'll leave them at the beginning of the chapter.

I appreciate all of you who have followed, reviewed, and favourited _Babe_.


	3. This Blows

This year, Konoha Prep decided to go with a traditional festival theme for the senior prom. There was bound to be girls dressed in elaborate kimonos of all sorts, but none would look comparable to Ino, Sakura, and Hinata's. Sakura was sure of that anyways. Konan had done an amazing job on their dresses, and had the final alterations done just in time. The girls were getting ready at Ino's while the guys set up the Uchiha house for the pre-prom.

Sakura wanted to ask Hinata whether she and Sasuke were okay, whether they were going to be okay. The last two and a half weeks had been tense. Everyone had noticed. Sasuke and Hinata were not their usual selves, and this tension had begun to show on Hinata's face. Final exams were beginning one week after prom, and Hinata's head was not in the game. Sakura could only assume this had to do with Hinata finally choosing Kiri. They thought they were good at covering up the tension, but there were rumours circling around that Sasuke Uchiha was finally a free man, and that he no longer held any feelings for Hinata Hyuga. Sakura noticed how things were changing within the school grounds. Kiba Inuzuka started talking to Hinata a lot more since Sasuke wasn't constantly at her side. Sasuke disappeared a lot more, he became less and less present at lunch, and according to Hinata, as vague as she had been, at home as well.

Ino was perceptive. She could sense her best friend's unease, and as much as she felt it and noticed the rupture in the Konoha Prep social order, she had to maintain calmness and be normal. Her and Shikamaru anyways. They both knew the only way any of them would make it to graduation would be to maintain as much normalcy as the two of them could manage for everyone else. While she understood why Sasuke might be hurt by parting ways with Hinata, she couldn't understand why they were making it seem like they'd be apart forever. It was beginning to affect the rest of them.

"We should do makeup first and then help each other into these things." Ino noted, breaking the silence. Recently, silence seemed to plague every gathering. "How long do we want to stay at the actual prom before going home to change for Red?"

"I want to get some good pictures and eat the food we paid for, but we also need to pre." Sakura said. "Hinata?"

"I think that's a good idea." Hinata stared out the window. She felt bad that she had been so distant but everything felt like it was suddenly changing too fast. She had always known that she and Sasuke were codependent to some degree, and that they both needed to grow. Not necessarily to grow apart but just to grow. He had dreams and things he wanted to do whether he considered them aspirations or not, but she had no direction. She had always just seen herself as reliant on the Uchiha family whether it was Itachi, Sasuke, or even Mikoto. She needed to go out and do things on her own. She had already spoken to her father, and he said he'd help with the first year. It would be easy enough for her to live in Kiri, the cost of living wasn't so high there unlike in Konoha, and Kumo. She had no idea what she wanted to do, she applied for university because she thought it was what she was supposed to do. It seemed like the right thing to do.

"Hina." Ino said sternly, as Sakura parked into the driveway. "Talk to us."

Hinata sighed. She knew that she and Sasuke were being unfair to their friends. Everyone knew something was wrong, she just wasn't sure how to talk about it. She also knew Sasuke would never be one to talk about it even with Naruto, so they just let the issue sit like the elephant in the room.

"Me and Sasuke just don't know how to be normal right now knowing I'm going to Kiri." Hinata said. "More than anything I think it's that I had the choice to stay in Konoha, I just didn't."

"Any particular reason why?" Sakura asked gently.

"I've spent almost my entire life relying on the Uchiha family. I need to live my own life right now, I need to know I can survive on my own without…" She wasn't sure what to even say. Without what? Without all the Uchihas being her safety net? Without her friends to do everything for her? Without people who would inevitably stand up for her?

"Without Sasuke?" Hinata shook her head. It didn't necessarily have to do with Sasuke.

"Without all of you." She decided was the answer that felt the most right. "I've spent so much time being reliant on every single one of you. I love you guys so much, and I'll be coming back to visit, I just need to pave my own path. I need to know that I can be me without all of you."

What she said made sense. They had been thinking about the ways Sasuke and Hinata affected each other, but not how they all affected each other. Who was Sakura without Ino, or Naruto without Sasuke, or Ino without Shikamaru, who were they without each other? Perhaps Hinata was right to leave the country for school. Sakura stayed for the medical program, but Ino thought about how many other schools she could have applied to with an even better psychology program. Subconsciously she just chose Konoha U because it was comfortable and familiar, she wanted to believe it'd be where all her friends would be.

"So Sasuke's not too happy with you leaving then huh?" Ino asked, hopping out of the car and grabbing their dresses. She handed each girl a dress, and shuffled around for her keys.

"I don't think he's unhappy with me, I think both of us just haven't really known a life apart from each other." Realistically, Sasuke had been the most important person to her in her life. She was closer to him than she was to her own siblings.

"Has anything ever happened between the two of you?" Sakura was more than just curious about the closed off relationship between Sasuke and Hinata. "Even just considering dating."

"Of course we've considered dating," The girls made their way into Ino's room and hung up their dresses. "It was never the right time, and I feel like it never will be the right time. We don't want the same things, and every time we're about to cave, something happens. Whether it's dating someone else, or moving to another country, our times and our futures don't seem to want to line up."

"Maybe you just need this time apart. Maybe distance does make the heart grow fonder." Ino suggested, bringing out all of her makeup.

"Maybe, or maybe not." Hinata shrugged. "I don't know if it ever will. Sasuke's an emotional person whether he shows it or not, and I feel stagnant. I feel like expressing myself is becoming more and more difficult because I'm afraid of change. Yet here we are, I'm making the biggest change of my life thus far, and everything is uncomfortable."

"Okay, enough of this sad talk!" Sakura clapped her hands twice. "Let's get dolled up, and feel good about ourselves!"

They had to get their makeup done ready for prom, as well as for the club afterwards so they wouldn't take too long. Hinata left her look fairly natural, her skin glowing, lips glossed nude, and everything perfectly groomed. Her hair was done in a high ponytail, and then wound up by Sakura who twisted it into a neat bun accentuated by flower pieces designed by Konan to match her dress. A dress of traditional appearance but larger and looser, styled to balance on its own against the edge of her shoulders exposing her pale and delicate décolletage, it exposed just enough, and accentuated just enough that Hinata was comfortable with. The royal blue, and midnight navy against Hinata's fair skin made her look like the goddess of the night sky.

Sakura's dress was strapless, her bare and structured shoulders showcased in a modern take on a traditional dress. The obi was thick and elaborate, tied at the back neatly in a large bow accentuating her figure in a way that balanced her smaller chest with the rest of her stronger features. Sakura blossoms decorated the entirety of the red and light gold dress. Her lips matched the red, and her eyes matched the gold accents. Her hair straightened and sleek. Sakura was a sight to behold.

Ino smiled looking at her beautiful friends. She was both sad and happy. This should be the happiest night of their lives thus far, and yet the knowledge that Hinata would be off soon was looming over them. They had all gone through so much together. Every boy, every mistake, every celebration that mattered, they did it all together. To Ino's knowledge, Shikamaru was staying in Konoha as well leaving Hinata as the only one leaving them.

"Let's go, my dad's going to take some pictures of just the three of us, and then he's driving us since I doubt we'll be able to drive in these things." Ino said. She fixed her hair up in a similar way to Hinata's, and checked to make sure her gown was secured on properly. It was made entirely of silk in a baby blue that matched her eyes. The kimono exposed her from the neck near down to her navel. It flowed in the back, and exposed her legs and the silk skirt that was attached to the inside. It was almost nightgown like. Ino told Konan that she wanted to wear a dress that screamed 'I just found my old rich husband dead of a mysterious overdose on his medication' and this dress was exactly that. Those perfect breasts that her friends admired so much looked so perky and perfect under the silk.

Perfect. They were all perfect.

—

"So is Kin coming here for pre?" Sasuke asked, taming his usually unkept hair. The guys were already ready. Their suits were on, and their grooming was minimal save for Sasuke who decided to do something different with his hair.

"Yeah, she'll be on her way over here after she gets ready." Shikamaru lazily drew a cigarette box from inside his jacket and offered one to his friends. Naruto refused but Sasuke took one, leaving it lazily hanging from his mouth as he fished for a lighter.

The boys stepped outside, all three despite Naruto not smoking, and watched as Akatsuki cars pulled into the driveway. The first to get out of a car was a sickly looking man with green hair. He walked casually up to Sasuke and handed him a small baggy.

"Hey hey, we're not interested man." Naruto said, waving his hands awkwardly. The man eyed him from his peripherals and ignored him.

Sasuke just grabbed the baggy from him.

Zetsu just smirked and left the three standing there.

"What was that about man?" Naruto frowned. He knew that Sasuke dabbled in substance abuse, but it seemed almost prepared for him. Like Zetsu already knew he'd need to give it to him.

"It's not a big deal. I just asked him for something that'd help me get by." Sasuke shrugged, taking a drag from his cigarette. "It's been rough okay?"

He didn't have to say much more for them to understand what he meant. Sasuke was becoming less present as he counted down the days until Hinata would leave for Kiri. Naruto didn't want to nag him, he believed his friend was smart enough not to dig a hole he couldn't get out of, but Sasuke had become so dependent on Hinata, Naruto wasn't sure if he was in the best mental state to be doing drugs recreationally.

"C'mon man, she'll visit." Shikamaru patted his friend on the back.

"Yeah, sure." It wasn't because she wouldn't stay in Konoha, it was because she wouldn't stay with him. Sasuke knew that as time went on, visits would become less frequent, and she'd start a new life in Kiri. He couldn't wish her the worst as much as he hoped she would be miserable there so that she'd come back to Konoha for good. It was a nice thought though, the possibility that she would come to find that she didn't want the rest of the world, that she only needed to be with him.

He fiddled with the baggy in his pocket. He wasn't good for her, the only person good enough that he'd approve was Naruto but that didn't work out too well, nor did he take too well to it. He knew it was best for her to leave, she didn't need the extra stress of having to look after him. Sasuke needed her to leave but wanted her to stay more. He was selfish. He always had been. He was selfish when he begged his mom to ask Hiashi to let Hinata stay in Konoha, and he was selfish every time he looked at her and wanted something more. He wanted her all to himself.

A dark SUV pulled up along the road, and a tall man with long blonde hair came out. He opened the door to the back and out hopped Hinata in her royal gown, delicate shoulders bare with just a peak of cleavage leaving the mind wondering. He was blown away every time he saw her, and tonight was no different. But watching her approach the house with their friends, he couldn't see anyone but her. The royal blue matched up to his tie, and somehow of course they managed to coordinate without any mention of it. It felt like life was playing games, toying with his mind, making him believe that whatever it was they shared could ever develop into something more.

"Ladies! You're all looking stunning!" Naruto called out as the girls made their way across the lawn. Shikamaru shot them a thumbs up and crushed his cigarette butt into the stone ashtray Sasuke left on the porch railing.

Prom was a big deal, but they had a night plan they were even more excited for. They would make their appearance, stay for a few songs, take pictures, eat and leave. The night wouldn't start until later anyways so they weren't in a rush, but they wanted to have time to get ready and pre before Red.

"Sasuke, we're just going to put our bags in your room." Hinata said, smiling at him. It had been a long time since he had seen her smile at him. They had avoided each other for two weeks. He couldn't deny that this moment was the best he had felt in two weeks.

Shikamaru shook his head. He would say that they needed to figure their shit out if it didn't come out completely hypocritical coming from him. He needed to sort his shit out with Kin, he knew that. Perhaps he wasn't one to comment on people's dysfunctional relationships, but ever since Hinata had revealed that she would be the only one not attending a school in Konoha, the natural flow of the group had shifted. To some extent they all needed each other to balance the group. Separate as pairs or as individuals they were functional, for the most part, but together they worked like a machine that needed every part.

"Come on kids, I'll get some photos of you together, and then you can hop into the Range Rovers." Itachi said, gathering them together into the backyard. The Uchiha garden was beautiful, it was a wonder how it was going to be kept up after Hinata left since she took over after Mikoto left. Perhaps gardeners would just tend to it, but the idea seemed sad.

As if it were pre-arranged, the six of them stood; Shikamaru, Naruto, Ino, Sakura, Hinata, and then Sasuke. Sasuke held Hinata close to him, almost protecting her from the camera while letting the gown's volume bring her forward in the photo. If observed closely, one might even catch a glimpse of Naruto's hand gliding along Ino's silk covered bottom. They were all smiles. Even if they were to be separated, nothing would change the bond that kept them together — an impenetrable love for each other.

—

At the prom, Kin was still nowhere to be seen. Shikamaru, albeit apathetic about his relationship, had begun to worry about her whereabouts. There hadn't even been a complaint texted to him about not taking photos together at the Uchiha home pre-prom.

The venue was decorated in lanterns and stalls with lots to eat, all available for the taking. Shikamaru thought about Chouji, his friend from childhood, who would have loved a prom with a buffet where he could eat to his heart's desire. He felt guilty in many ways for being at this prom. He felt guilty that he got to attend a prom for the wealthy while his best friend since birth was off in a half-decent public school, and he even felt guilty that he got to go while Zaku was banned despite being part of the same fight. Sometimes Shikamaru questioned the state of his own mental health, but most of the time he chose to ignore it.

The music was very current, and suited the crowd. Shikamaru observed the way people stared at the Babes. He understood that his friends were visually appealing, and that to some extent he fell into this category of attractive as well. Something disturbed him though, about the way they were blatantly objectified, it was usually written on the faces of their peers. He watched as Naruto swooped Ino into his arms, away from leering eyes that could only imagine and dream of what the silk of her dress felt like, and what it might feel like to peel it off of her perfect skin. Shikamaru could never see himself with Ino. They had known each other since birth, and every part of him loved her as if they truly were tied by blood, but that was just it. Ino Yamanaka was blood to him, family. He imagined he'd end up with someone docile like Hinata who was gorgeous, and gentle, and not in the slightest like his troublesome mother. But he never ruled out Sakura, someone who had drive and charisma to boot. Someone who was both brilliant and beautiful, but her brashness did come as something he couldn't see himself dealing with in a partner. Not that he would ever date someone within their friend group. That was too risky.

Too troublesome.

Shikamaru noticed that Hinata was alone. Something he never thought Sasuke would let happen given her appearance that night. Turning to the bathrooms, Shikamaru decided to look for Sasuke.

The boys' bathroom was empty as usual. Shikamaru would have turned around had it not been for the sound sniffling in the stall in the back. He would have just turned around and ignored it, but he couldn't.

Not this time.

"Sasuke, I know you're in there." What a drag. People in their school abused prescription pills and other drugs all the time. When you wanted to be the best, the ends justified the means.

There was just silence. And then a sigh.

Shikamaru walked over to the only closed stall, and gave a light tap on the door to watch it swing open.

He wasn't sure what had contributed to the next decisions he'd make, but he knew he didn't regret them. It might have been that he wasn't shocked to see Sasuke there snorting a line off of Hinata's makeup mirror, and it could have been because he was just fed up.

Fed up with school, fed up with his parents, fed up with life.

The thing about cocaine was, it woke him up more than any cigarette ever had. And suddenly, being awake didn't seem so bad anymore.

—

She could feel the eyes that were glued to her, and she thrived in it. Ino Yamanaka was a glowing goddess in silk. But more than anything else, she had the hottest guy in school as her date. Arguably, people would say that Sasuke was the hottest, but Ino knew better. In the heated debate between Sasuke versus Natuto, it was clearly Naruto who emerged as victorious. He wasn't taller than Sasuke but he was brawnier than him. Naruto was rugged and manly with golden skin gifted from the sun's natural glow. He had both the charm of a boy whose goofiness got him through the most trying of times, and yet also the charisma of a protector who had had the world on his shoulders. Hinata had seen that before all of them, and yet here she was, Ino, with the hottest boy in school.

Among the eyes were Amaru's, and Ino knew it. She made some cutting eye contact every now and then to let the redhead know.

Mine.

Naruto's warm hands hugged her hips with purpose, Ino was not for anyone else. No matter how confusing their relationship was, no matter what anyone said about Ino Yamanaka and her supposed promiscuity, one thing was clear to everyone and anyone who dared challenge this. One thing that was unspoken but clear between both he and Ino.

Mine.

They were loyal in this non-relationship relationship. Either was free to go at any point. They had just chosen not to. It felt easier knowing they weren't bound to each other by anything but their own desires to be with the other.

No labels, no titles.

Something about this empowered Ino. Knowing that Naruto Uzumaki could choose to sleep with or be with anybody else at any time, he just chose not to. He chose her. She wasn't worried about a timeline, and she didn't have to worry about doing anything she didn't want to. This was enough for her.

Naruto wondered if what they had would remain enough though.

He couldn't be the guy telling his best friend to go for the girl he loved if he couldn't be that guy either. He looked over to Hinata who was waiting for food at a stall. If he were to be frank, Naruto knew deep inside him that Hinata didn't deserve Sasuke. His best friend was a fuck up, and she deserved much more than that. Sasuke had the potential to be many things, he was an academic genius, and he had athletic talent as well. But Sasuke's greatest downfall was that he let being in Itachi's shadow hinder him.

The shadow cast over the young Uchiha also bore weight. A shadow that weighed in expectations to be comparable and yet also the expectation that he would never be as good as his older brother. He wasn't good enough. When it came down to it, Hinata was Sasuke's in a way that Itachi would never be able to have. She loved him for who he was, every fault, every problem, every time he pushed her away and pulled her right back because the thought of not having her by his side was unbearable. Even if it was just friendship, as long as she was there, he felt okay. But that was selfish. That was selfish to demand of someone who you claim to love. And so, Naruto watched his best friend cripple himself because he couldn't stop himself from wanting Hinata to stay, and yet the guilt of asking her to tore him.

Suddenly the weight of Itachi's shadow seemed light in comparison to the trauma brought by abandonment.

Naruto kissed the top of Ino's head. He wasn't exciting, he wasn't the smartest, he was just a jock. She was way out of his league, and yet here she was. In his arms. The prettiest girl in school. She wasn't just pretty either, she was brilliant with the ability to read people and their intentions. Ino was incredibly perceptive and yet, as Naruto had come to realize, she was blind to what was happening right in front of her. She had everyone else read so well, she became blind to everything in her immediate vicinity.

—

Sweetness was often a word used to describe Hinata Hyuga. Despite the coldness attached to her features, there was an undeniable sweetness there that drew people to her, as simultaneously the most and least approachable of the Babe girls. Her sweetness was inviting and yet it felt like a trap, one met with Sasuke Uchiha and a metal bat on the other end.

Hinata ate her snack quietly at an unoccupied table with no stools. Sitting was not ideal in her dress. Her friends had gone off to do their own thing and suddenly it felt like this sense of loneliness would become familiar in the years to come. This feeling of loneliness which ebbed away at her while she watched Sakura talk to the teachers who had written raving references for her, while Naruto and Ino glowed brighter than the lights on the dance floor, both destined for the limelight. She felt left behind, ironic considering it'd be she who would be doing the leaving. Her eyes wandered, looking for the one person who would feel the impact of her leaving more than any other.

It was odd that Sasuke had gone missing so soon already. Sure, neither had been very interactive as of late, but she thought that would be set aside for the occasion. It had gotten to the point where Itachi had begun to ask questions when he would typically observe silently. It was odd trying to dodge Itachi's questions when she was so habituated with honesty. Something was going on with Sasuke, something that Hinata understood was triggered by the fact that she was leaving.

No one knew Sasuke like Hinata knew Sasuke, her Sasuke was the rawest form of him that anyone could get. She knew it, appreciated it, and cherished it as something purely for her. But it was this intimate understanding of Sasuke that made everything about him so transparent to her. While she didn't know where he was, she knew what he was doing. She had known for a while, and the dreadful truth of it all was that Sasuke had given up on himself a long time ago. Dabbling in substance abuse had been a way to experience life in a way that was internal and personal with the possibility of making everyday interaction possible. It didn't matter that he had received acknowledgement from his father already, even if it was a small remark before he and their mother left. It didn't matter that women swooned over him, that he was graced with so much natural talent that he could rely on that alone without needing to develop any work ethic. He wasn't Itachi, and that's all that mattered.

A pair of strong arms circled Hinata's waist, drawing her attention to the hands that linked themselves around her midsection. Hinata stared intensely at the knuckle tattoos that adorned these hands — tattoos she had been very against at the time as knuckle tattoos seemed to be an odd choice for a first tattoo.

"Hey babe." He whispered against her ear. She could feel the small smile that formed on his lips. "You look beautiful."

Hinata just unlinked his hands and turned to look at him with a sad smile and a quiet thank you that he probably couldn't hear over the music. She looked at his face which held a smile she had always known to be reserved for her. It seemed as of late, that she was no longer the source of his smiles. But then again, something had to be once she left.

The thing about all the drugs and nonsense was that it took the edge off of loving Hinata. To Sasuke, Hinata Hyuga was the most crippling and all-enveloping drug there was. While the light experimenting satisfied him when he felt useless as long as his brother existed, losing Hinata was something he was sure his body would be physically incapable of handling. And so, as he did with any other problem in his life, Sasuke used one addiction to overcome another. It also served as a clear reminder for himself that he would never be the person who she needed or deserved.

"Is there anything here that you can even eat?" Hinata raised her small disposable dish to his face, offering him a piece of fried tofu. Sasuke shook his head with a grimace. "Show me around this thing, would you?"

As if naturally, their fingers laced together as they walked about, enjoying the stellar work that went into preparing for the evening. It seemed that in that moment, all was forgotten, and all was forgiven. The two made their way over to Shikamaru who had finally found his girlfriend. Kin clung to Shikamaru's arm, tugging him towards the dance floor. Hinata frowned, upon seeing her friend's face. She shook her hand out of Sasuke's grip and turned to him.

"You made Shika do drugs with you?" Her voice was strained. Somehow it only felt alright if he kept all the substance abuse to himself.

"I didn't make him do anything. He asked me for some." There was a lot that he would admit to, but he would never force anyone to do anything with him, however, that also meant he wouldn't stop them from doing anything either. It felt a lot less lonely pulling his friend down this spiral with him. Not that he would ever admit that. "He'll be fine, cocaine isn't that big of a deal."

Hinata stared at him with sad eyes. They could do whatever they wanted to, she couldn't stop them. But somehow, it felt like it was her fault that this was happening. The self-absorbed part of her that seemed to think that everything had to do with her decided that this too should be held in her conscience. She shook her head and headed for the bathroom.

Once again, it seemed Sasuke fucked something up. As he always seemed to do nowadays. He walked over to where he saw Sakura, Ino, and Naruto who looked concerned — over what, Sasuke couldn't fathom.

"What was that?" Naruto asked grimly. "She seemed really upset."

"She'll get over it, like I'm over prom. Let's get out of here." The group found Shikamaru actually dancing with Kin, with what appeared to be the slightest of smiles.

"Let's head back to pre before Red, Shika. I'll go grab Hina." Ino said, completely ignoring Kin. Without another word, Ino headed for the bathrooms where she was sure she'd find her friend alone with her thoughts. Thoughts she was sure Hinata wouldn't share, as talking seemed to be sparse lately in their friendship.

"Can we stay for just one more song, please? I only just got here!" Kin pleaded.

"Sure, why not?" Naruto grinned. He wasn't the biggest fan of having Kin around, but Naruto wouldn't be Naruto if he didn't at least try to make everyone happy.

The song however, was short-lived when the doors of the venue flew open. Zaku entered, and trailing behind him were five unfamiliar faces which everyone could only assume belonged to students from Oto High.

"Kin, what the fuck?!" Sakura screamed. This had to be her doing. There wasn't a doubt in Sakura's mind that Kin had aided in whatever this was.

"It's not what you think! I just thought it was only fair that Zaku got to attend too, he already bought his…" Kin didn't get a chance to finish her thought. The biggest of the five grabbed a student by the suit and stole his food.

"Hey! Get outta here, you freaks!" Yelled Kiba, pushing through the crowd.

A pair of twins from the group surrounded Kiba, getting in his face. "What're you gonna do about it, kid?"

"I'll fuck you up, that's what!" And with that, Kiba Inuzuka threw the first punch triggering a fight between the Oto High students and the Babes who did their best to keep other students out of what they could only assume was a fight meant for them — with the exception of Kiba who crashed his large fists repeatedly into one silver haired twin's face while the other was distracted by a blond goddess coming out of the bathroom.

"What is going on out here?" Ino yelled, Hinata following close behind.

"Ino Yamanaka, we've heard all about you, sexy." The untouched twin eyed the deep plunge of her dress. "Nice dress, can't wait to take it off of you."

Naruto ran to tackle the twin who wasn't preoccupied with Kiba, but got thrown down. He looked up to see a girl grinning down at him, getting ready to send a heavy kick to his head. Before she could get her leg far back enough to even kick him, Sakura sent her flying with a punch to the face.

"Sasuke!" Hinata screamed instinctively, as she tried to run from a tanned boy with shaggy black hair. Her dress was really weighing her down, its many layers creating resistance against her legs.

Sasuke saw red. He charged towards the unnamed Oto boy, only to be intercepted by Zaku.

"No way, Uchiha. You wanna save your little bitch, you go through me first." Zaku had been dreaming of this rematch since recovering after their first fight. If that meant he would use these Oto rejects as his fall dummies when this all ended, then so be it.

Sasuke's scowl deepened. "I'm going to fucking murder you."

"Zaku, don't!" Kin pleaded. "This wasn't supposed to happen, Shika, I swear!"

"Well what the fuck did you think was going to come of you bringing Zaku and these lunatics?" Shikamaru never raised his voice at her, even when she knew she was being annoying. He tore his arm from her grasp and tossed his coat over to Ino who quickly put it on. Where was Hinata? Panic set in him as he ran out the doors nearest to where he last saw her running.

Ino jumped onto the hot-pink haired girl's back. "Get off of my best friend, you fucking cheap dye job!" Whether that made sense or not didn't matter, Sakura needed her and that's all that registered. This girl was incredibly strong to take down Sakura of all people. Ino wrapped her legs around the girl and gripped fist fulls of her hair. The Oto girl tumbled back landing with Ino under her. Sakura rose, gasping for air rubbing where she had been choked. She flipped off someone in the crowd who yelled 'cat fight' and punched her assailant straight in the nose, marvelling in the crack she heard, and felt, against her fist. The girl gasped, letting go of Ino's arms to hold her face. Ino got out from under her and gave her a firm kick to the side with her bare foot — when she lost her shoe, she wasn't even sure amidst the chaos. She tossed her other shoe off, and stalked towards Kin.

"You." Ino hissed. "This is all your fucking fault."

"Ino, please, you have to believe me. I had no idea this was going to happen." Kin pleaded.

"It doesn't matter! If you had any working brain cells at all, you'd know something horrible was going to happen if you snuck Zaku in. You're staying the fuck. You're dumber than you look if you think there's a snowball's chance in hell that you're coming to Red with us after this." Ino called the Uchiha landline, praying Itachi would be home to pick them up.

—

"Hinata?" Shikamaru called out.

"She's over here." Shikamaru jogged over to the voice and found Hinata in what looked like Sasuke's sweatshirt that went down nearly to her knees. Itachi Uchiha stood next to what was left of Hinata's once extravagant dress. In front of him was the bleeding body of the boy who had been after Hinata. "He isn't dead."

Shikamaru's senses were too stimulated for this. He couldn't even process all of the information he was taking in in real time. Between the drugs and the different possible scenarios that were playing out in his mind, he didn't even notice the sound of dragging and wheezing coming from behind him.

"Itachi?" Sasuke dropped the body in his hands, and let the boy land with a loud thud.

"Hello little brother, I seem to be in the midst of dealing with another mess you've created." Sasuke ignored him and just darted for Hinata, stepping on a body in the process. He held her tight, and apologized for taking so long to get to her. Once again, it was Itachi who saved the day, and he wasn't even supposed to be there.

"I stabbed that guy." Hinata said, wiggling a hand out from Sasuke's embrace. Sasuke let go of her and finally took a good look at her. She was in one of his sweaters, and her dress was on the ground. "Nothing happened, just…almost. I didn't know what to do so I called Itachi. But it looks like you had your hands full."

Bringing his attention back to Zaku, Sasuke rolled him over and grabbed both of his arms. "Feel familiar, Abumi?"

"Some Akatsuki cars are on the way. I'll handle the body, don't worry. Go have fun at Red, just be safe please." Hinata hugged Itachi. Once again, she wasn't able to handle anything on her own.

Once again, she was saved by an Uchiha.

—

The car ride back to the Uchiha house was lively as ever despite the fight that had broken out. Itachi as always knew everything, and trying to do things behind his back didn't work, as per usual.

The boy who tried to have his way with Hinata was named Kidomaru, someone who apparently had previously antagonized her brother Neji and lost. Although it was all just coincidental that he would be part of the five that would crash the Konoha Prep prom, he seized the opportunity to get revenge on Neji Hyuga who had embarrassed him in front of his 'leader'.

The Oto students were promptly cleared out by Sasori and Deidara who posed as police officers to lure them out back to where their other friends had been left.

"As much as I hate Kin…" Ino put up a hand to stop Sakura before she could finish.

"Babe, I can't right now with this sympathy for the devil bullshit, alright? Let's just have a good time tonight and forget about it."

"I'm just saying she clearly didn't know they would do that! Jeez Ino, I can't stand her either, but she likes fake hanging out with us way too much to jeopardize that." Ino rolled her eyes at her best friend.

"So what, do you wanna go back and get her then?" Ino snapped. "While you're at it, tell her that she and her dickheads owe us a lot of money for three destroyed custom dresses."

"Alright girls, relax. We're on our way to having a good time!" Naruto interjected. "We're about to get to the real party so let's lighten up!"

Naruto hoped to just party hard at Sasuke's, have sex before leaving, and then probably have sex again at the club. It sucked that they had to leave the prom on such a bad note, but more than that, he felt bad for Shikamaru who was caught between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand, he felt the same as his friends in regards to the incident and his girlfriend's part in the incident. On the other hand, Shikamaru knew better than the rest of them that Kin, although a little careless sometimes, had no ill intent if it meant he would get caught in the crosshairs.

One thing was certain though. Shikamaru needed more blow.

As the Range Rover pulled into the driveway, Hinata fiddled with the hem of the sweater which had risen when she sat down. She made a silent resolution that from this night forward she would be more independent, she would make decisions for herself, and she would try her best to not get in anybody's way. Having Kidomaru try to rape her in a parking lot really triggered something inside of her. The assault itself hadn't brought this realization, but perhaps the feeling of stabbing him did. She felt good protecting herself, she felt good doing something on her own. She liked seeing him clinging to life for what he tried to do to her.

Her first decision upon making this resolution would however still require a helping hand from Sasuke.

—

Shikamaru felt his sinuses burning already.

Doing cocaine made him wonder why he hadn't tried it sooner. Doing drugs was never the smarter choice, and yet he wondered when he ever really did choose the smarter choice. When he made choices ever. Everyone has a choice was a load of bullshit if you asked Shikamaru. Attending class wasn't his choice, his girlfriend wasn't his choice, and honestly, existing on this planet wasn't his choice either. Every draining interaction he made was by no means something he'd choose to do if he didn't feel like someone was counting on him.

He watched Sasuke make more lines. The black card was no longer so black, and the bill he was using would probably go to the bouncer or a bartender. A faint knock at Sasuke's door, and then the sound of it opening revealed a beautiful Hinata. Ah, Hinata, the only person who didn't make Shikamaru feel like he was obligated to anything. He would surely miss gazing at the clouds with the company of her pleasant presence.

"You look great." Sasuke noted, taking a pause from his work to admire the work she had put in to her appearance. She roused feelings in him every time she entered any room, every time she entered his thoughts, which reminded him that soon that's all he would have left, his thoughts. "I'll be out in a bit."

Hinata played with her ponytail. She was wearing a white strapless bodysuit from Ino's closet, and some black jeans. While she looked nowhere near as wild next to Ino with her choice of daring under-boob, and Sakura in the tiniest dress she could find, she still felt like she was taking a leap out of her comfort zone wearing something strapless. Large breasts and strapless anything was a disaster in the making if you asked Hinata.

But here she was, Hinata Hyuga, being wild.

"Um," Hinata hesitated. "Can I try?"

—

A note from Babs:

I have returned, apologies for the delay. Life happens but here I am. I wanted to chat a bit about this chapter. Not because it's super necessary as much as I do enjoy just talking through my own thoughts sometimes. Before anyone thinks I condone drug abuse as a means of therapy, I don't. But I know all too well through my own experiences that having substances readily available to abuse is something that people turn to when times get tough. That being said, I don't want this to be a story that just focusses on the drug use but the reason behind it. I don't want it to be reduced to something as simple as 'I can quit whenever I want to' it's an understanding that they know they don't want to.

I don't love this chapter, I feel like there's a lot without much being said. But I really wanted to talk about Shikamaru, and what he's going through. I feel like there's this heavy focus on everyone else except him, and I'd like to use that to my advantage. He's, like each Babe, integral to the group.

I also wanted to really emphasize here that the Sasuke who has a family isn't traumatized by loss and is thus a little different than the isolated Sasuke who was hellbent on vengeance against his stronger older brother. Because that comparison never goes away, he is reminded that he will never measure up. Nothing is so simple as being ultimately wounded by one thing without many other factors surrounding it that make the main issue the monster that it is.

Okay, I've blathered on enough. Thank you for your patience. I do fully plan on completing this story.


End file.
